At last night's Village Council meeting, planners Marty Floerchinger and Michael Baker, along with local builder, Gani Berisha, presented their plan for a town home community of 142 units to be built on 20.5 acres on the hill behind the Bashas shopping area in Catalina. The majority of this parcel, 18 acres, is currently hard-zoned at GR-1, or 1 home per acre. The remaining 2.5 acres is currently zoned for Transitional use which could be anything from commercial to apartments.

The developer/builder, Berisha, is seeking a rezoning of the entire parcel to CR-4 under which the options are "duplex, condominium, townhouse, apartment, or other multiple-dwelling development" according to Pima County Code 18.27.010

http://www.pima.gov/cob/code/c18a18.html#2312.

Mr. Berisha is most known for his project of custom homes built on acre lots at Golder Ranch and Coronado Forest.

Here are the bare bones of the plan as presented to the audience by way of a 3-D scale model and boards showing an aerial view and interior floor plans:
Entrance to the "gated" community, to be named Arber Ridge, will be at 15745 Twins Lakes Blvd. over a recently acquired 2.5 acre parcel The curving road will be flanked by 2 custom-built homes on 1 acre lots with minimal disturbance (30%) of the trees and desert vegetation on those lots. Of the larger 20.5 acre parcel, 45% will be either undisturbed or revegetated with desert plantings.

The buildings will be 2-story with an average height of 20 feet, and from the model appeared to follow the topography of the site. The units themselves will be 2-3 bedroom and will sell for $300,000 to $400,000. The entire project was presented as tasteful, and respectful of the current surroundings.

A lengthy and friendly discussion between the planners, builder, and audience followed the presentation and lasted until almost 9 PM. There was no shortage of "concerns" from the audience, as well as a few compliments for the presenters and their project. As a seasoned participant in this type of meeting, I personally found the atmosphere refreshingly open and respectful for all involved.

Although the project itself didn't seem to raise too many issues with last night's audience, it was the impact of all the people and vehicles of 142 new households on our already stressed roads, schools, and water supply that had residents most worried.

As a required part of the rezoning process, the developers will soon notify and meet with neighbors within 300' of the parcel. They also stated that they will welcome all concerned to those meetings with "the more the merrier" being thrown out to a lot of knowing laughter from the audience. It will be in those neighborhood meetings that the "negotiations" with which we've become so familiar will begin. Check back here often for updates.

Also: Since ingress and egress for this development is planned for Golder Ranch to Twin Lakes, the already hellish mess at the Oracle/Golder Ranch intersection prompted many comments and questions from the audience. Patrick Cavanaugh of Supervisor Day's office was in attendance and committed to "getting the transportation department up here" to correct the problems at that intersection. Let's hope it gets resolved BEFORE there's a fatal head-on at the hill or child thrown from his bicycle while riding to Bashas for a loaf of bread.

The zoning commission responded to residents' concerns about traffic by stating that a recent traffic study (provided to the commission by the developers) indicated that traffic on Twin Lakes is currently only 10% of capacity and that the development would only increase it by 10%. (Of course that doesn't address residents' major concern about the intersection of Oracle and Golder Ranch.)
The main concern of the commission was over the flood control issues of the 100-year flood zone area in the SW corner of the project. That part of the project is the "natural open space" area that the developers were speaking of in
their presentation. The commission also spent a lot of time talking about issues like water, traffic, and lack of infrastructure support but kept stating that
most of those issues were really Pinal County issues and thus out of their control. When one resident raised concerns about water impact, one of the panel told her that he too was worried at first but is now reassured after reading the 7-page water report ( supplied to them by the developers) which said there's plenty of water, and he suggested that we should all read the report and get better informed.

The commission also mentioned that in addition to the high density development planned for Falcon Valley, Willow Springs, Saddlebrooke Ranch, and Arroyo Grande, there are also large scale developments planned for the Biosphere area,
San Manuel and Mammoth. In all we are looking at perhaps as many as 250,000 new residents in the next 10-20 years. The panel couldn't agree on whether or not 11 units per acre should be considered high density. One panel member felt that this project was not infill but rather was an example of "leap-frog" development. In the end though, there were only 2 members voting to oppose the rezoning, therefore it passed this first part of the process and their recommendation for approval will be sent on to the Board of Supervisors.
Now for some of my personal thoughts on all of this:
To many, this plan did look pretty reasonable. Mr. Berisha and his engineers present themselves as decent men trying to create a project in a win/win atmosphere. Although the density raised many concerns, many felt that it worked as a transition from the commercial corridor to the 1 home per acre zoning throughout Catalina. And many backed away from opposing believing it could be "much worse".
For me, "much worse" plays out as an apartment complex in an area desperately underserved by law-inforcement and in a neighborhood whose schools are close to capacity with no new facilities in sight. But even if this current plan is approved by the Board of Supervisors, there is no guarantee that it will be built as it was presented and my worst case scenario could possibly come to pass.
The zoning change being requested does allow for "rental" apartments, and although making such a change would require the developer to go again before the Board of Supervisors, such a request might be considered at that time "not a substantial change" and simply fall under the Consent Agenda. This means there will be no "notice" of a hearing; no community notice or input required.
Mr. Berisha's engineers assured us that the zoning change was contingent upon their specific plan. Yet developers can, and often do, apply for changes that the County has the discretion to consider "not substantial". Those changes to the plan could be very substantial to the neighbors, and those neighbors will never know until it's all said and done. And what if Mr. Berisha sells his property? The new zoning stays in place and it will be up to the Board of Supervisors of some future time to determine if it meets their criteria. So if in 10 years the area around Catalina has become more dense (as is planned with Arroyo Grande), multi-dwelling rental units might be then considered appropriate..."not substantial" enough to require a hearing.
Catalina watched as the final zoning ordinance (essentially a County law) for Black Horse was changed out of sight and knowledge of the residents. Many felt that the dedication by the developer of an unimpeded Twin Lakes Blvd would be a very positive addition to our infrastructure. It was only when the grading of the road began that it came to light that the developer had been allowed to add those traffic circles that totally changed the character of the initially presented road. Some neighbors were promised "considerations in development" in exchange for supporting that rezoning. I'm sure some were disappointed, especially those who continue to deal with flooding due to run-off from that development.
In the rezoning of an area of Oro Valley, it was made one of the conditions of the rezoning that Michael Carlier, of Vistoso Partners and Black Horse Advisors, be required to donate land to Amphi for a neighborhood school. The site he offered was considered unbuildable, and years later, after the rezoned area had been developed, the school site had still not been donated. (When I checked with Amphi earlier this year, the issue seemed close to resolution.)
So people need to really think before supporting any hard zoning change. Once it's done, it's done.